I am dying to see this, like…yesterday. It won the Grand Jury for Best Picture at Sundance IN JANUARY and I have been waiting forever for its release. Which is today! YAY!
Ramona rolls back into town this afternoon and Matthew isn’t working late tonight. Gonna see if I can arrange a little date with one of them. (not picky)
1 comment October 28th, 2011
Another highlight of our Florida vacation earlier this month was taking Asher to the beach for the 1st time. Its like the 5th time he’s been to Florida, and we technically live 15 minutes from the beach but we’re not “beach people” cause eew with the sand and the heat and the sandy sand sand sand.
He loved it. Of course he did. He was jumping up and down in the sand screaming:
“I LOVE THE BEACH! THANK YOU MOMMY! THANK YOU DADDY! I LOVE THE BEACH!”
I know what you’re saying. ‘For reals, Bar? He is over 2 years old. What took you so long?’ but the idea of putting a baby down in the sand didn’t really appeal to me. Plus if we had taken him earlier, we would never have gotten that enthusiastic of a reaction! So there’s your lesson in rushing things because your child might enjoy themselves. I assume he’ll have a similar freak out when we eventually head to Disney, maybe on his 17th birthday (Disney World is 2 hrs from my parents house)
(We aren’t “Disney people” and I’m not an “amusement park person” or a “big crowd of rednecks person” or a “heat person” or a “spend a ton of money on crap food” person. I’m more of a “lets take a walk around town person” and a “dining al fresco person” and definitely more of a “plenty for kids to do in Paris” person)
He does love a good sandbox though, so we figured we’d tough it out.
5 comments October 27th, 2011
We love this pie shop down the street and when we saw they had special Thanksgiving pies we ordered one just for the hell of it. We aren’t having people over for Thanksgiving but we’ll have an entire Four & Twenty Blackbirds Brown Butter Pumpkin Pie. The Salted Caramel Apple and Salty Honey are also VERY delicious but we’ve had them already and ya know, pumpkin.
You can order one here for pickup Thanksgiving week. Last year they didn’t have pre-order and the line was out the door at 6am.
If you want to join us for dessert on the 24th we’ll be having coffee and pie around 7:30 at our place. RSVP. We may even order a 2nd pie…
Add comment October 26th, 2011
We went to visit my parents for the Jewish holidays and it was a really great trip. I had to work every afternoon (I flew directly to Dallas from Florida) but we really made the most of our vacation with breakfasts out with my grandparents, trips to the playground and the beach and hitting the swimming pool every single day. Sometimes Grandma came, sometimes Grandpa came, and one day we got to hang with Auntie Jess and Uncle Mark! Jess and Mark were ALSO in town visiting HER dad for the Jewish holidays so we drove down to Miami for the day. Pizza, pool party and even a birthday cake for Matthew.
5 comments October 25th, 2011
I love this recipe. I’ve made it once a month since I came across it over the summer and I think about it ALL. THE. TIME. I think its the slightly spicy, slightly lemony thing it has going on.
If you want a really special vegetarian pasta dish this is it. I am not a very brave chef but I went off-recipe for this one and it came out even better. I sautee chopped spinach in garlic and fold it into the ricotta mixture, it makes it especially delicious.
Ingredients:
zest of one lemon
Sauce:
1/3 cup / 80 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus more for the pan
1 1/2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
scant 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
4 medium cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed red tomatoes
1 14-ounce can crushed red tomatoes
Filling:
1 15-ounce container ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
1/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup / ~5 oz grated mozzarella
1 bunch of chives, minced
25-30 jumbo dried pasta shells
Oil a 13 x 9-inch / 33 x 23-cm baking pan, or equivalent, and sprinkle the zest of 1/2 the lemon across it. Set aside. Get a big pot of water boiling, and preheat your oven to 350F / 180C with a rack in the middle.
To make the sauce, combine the olive oil, red pepper flakes, sea salt, and garlic in a cold saucepan. Stir while you heat the saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute just 45 seconds or so until everything is fragrant – you don’t want the garlic to brown. Now stir in the tomatoes and heat to a gentle simmer, just a minute or two. Remove from heat and carefully take a taste (you don’t want to burn your tongue)…If the sauce needs more salt add it now. Let cool.
(BK: I will add that I blend the sauce at this point because I like things saucy rather than chunky-tomatoey in a baked pasta dish. But I always blend my sauce so hey, do what you want)
To make the filling, combine the ricotta, egg, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix until combined, then stir in the mozzarella, remaining lemon zest, and 3/4 of the chives. Set aside.
Cook the shells according to package instructions in well-salted water – until al dente. If you overcook, the shells will tear as you attempt to fill them. Drain and let cool long enough to handle with your hands – see photo.
Spread 1/3 of sauce across the bottom of the prepared pan. Fill each shell with ricotta, and arrange in a single layer in the pan. Ladle the remaining sauce over the shells, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes, uncover for the final 15 minutes or until the shells are cooked through. Sprinkle with the remaining chives and serve hot.
1 comment October 21st, 2011
I have one of Sharon Montrose’s original prints but these new ones are RIDICULOUS. I think you have to be careful what else you have in the room, it looks like all that cuteness can get to be too precious. I still really, really, really want one. Maybe that duckling. Or the tiger cub. Or the laaaaaaamb!
{photo via Sharon Montrose}
4 comments October 20th, 2011
This afternoon during Jackie time I organized the freezer because things were falling out every time it opened or please, it wouldn’t be 1st on the list of tasks I need to attend to upon my return. I also did 3 loads of laundry that still needs to be put away. I started going through the bathroom closet and reorganizing it for literally the 5th time since we moved in but it’s not done either. Hoping that this one is the winner…Things are moving sloooowly because I’m easily distracted but its been really nice to have time at home.
I have to pace myself because after being away for so many weeks it’s going to take quite a few afternoons of Jackie time to get things back in order, or at least to a point where I don’t feel behind.
One of the things I miss the most when I’m gone is hanging with my mom friends during the week. Between working (lame) and then traveling (super lame) it can be a few weeks or even months between playdates and its not just me that feels out of the loop. Asher misses his buds too!
I gave myself the rest of last week to just hang out and not worry about what I need to do. Instead of rescheduling that dentist appointment I cancelled because I had a conference call, or working on all the filing I never did while I was traveling or even schlepping between getting things from storage then returning it all to switch our clothes out for the fall I made 3 playdates in 3 days and we had a blast.
Wednesday morning is our standing playdate with Otto. We meet him and his mom Sarah around 9 for coffee and snacks then we head over to music class. When that’s done we walk a block to the farmers market and roam around the park for an hour. We usually get home by 12 for lunch and nap then Jackie comes over for the afternoon. We have been doing this for ages, a year at least, and even when I’m working I try to work around it. I didn’t take any pics this week but I have literally hundreds so here is a random one after a storm this summer:
Thursday morning he has preschool so I did drop off, then organized some of my work files and picked Asher up at noon. In the afternoon we were supposed to take a field trip to the park carousel but it was raining and 2 buddies dropped out for various reasons so we ended up at Eva’s house instead. Her mom works 3 days a week so even if I’m only working part time it could be hard to see them, depending on our schedules. The kids always play really nicely together and even had a full on conversation at one point. The highlight was when her mom Sarah (or “Big Eva” as Asher used to call her) taught him how to use a drill.
(attn family: that toy is now #1 item on his chrismukkah list)
Friday morning we have art class which is better than ever this year, and that afternoon we went to Sydney’s house. Her little sister was born Aug 3 and this is the 1st time I’ve made it the 4 blocks to their house since her arrival. Crazy. Sydney’s friend Penelope came over too and it turned into quite a rager.
Everyone on the baby’s play mat!
SO happy to have a few weeks off work to catch up with friends and housework. Mostly friends.
2 comments October 18th, 2011
I got home from Dallas on Tuesday at midnight and went to a sinus specialist on Wednesday. Usually the day after a 2 week trip I try not to leave the house let alone take 3 subways to get to an appointment IN THE RAIN but I have had the same sinus infection since late August and after multiple rounds of antibiotics I was about 100x worse than when I started.
If you’ve ever spent more than 5 minutes with me- especially during allergy season-you know that I have problems. Daily allergy meds and a neti pot helps for 5 minutes but my sinuses always feel pressure. I’ve had 5 sinus infections this year. (That is a lot) Well for the past month it was like someone was pushing on my face constantly. I always wanted to sleep. My teeth hurt. I couldnt breathe through my nose. Not one OTC medication took any of the pain away, it was crazy. I’m sure taking 7 planes and working 16 hr days didn’t help but it was taking a really long time and I wasn’t feeling any better.
While we were in Florida visiting my parents I had to call my Dr. in NY and get a new prescription for antibiotics and he said I need to make an appt with an ENT as soon as I get back.
That day I decided I was not going to any old ENT just because they were in walking distance of our apartment, which is my usual plan. I was going to find an amazing ENT equipped to deal with my sinus problem. Why live in the best city in the world and not take advantage? (because hauling around town is a pain in the ass)
Well after consulting Dr. Google I found her and she is a serious sinus enthusiast, and serious about my sinus problems. Her office is on the Upper East Side, basically the one part of the city impossible to get to from our place but its a private practice and she sat with me for 45 minutes discussing my history and what issues I usually have and my current problem and then she looked up my nose with a camera.
She said the reason my infection hadn’t cleared up is because my sinuses were so ridiculously swollen they were practically shut. Yeah, that’s pretty much what it felt like. She is treating me aggressively and I like aggressive! It took me almost 90 minutes to get there, I don’t want to have to go back on Monday because I still feel like crap.
Here is what I have to take everyday this week:
Prednisone (steroids) Prescription Nasal Spray (steroids, anti-inflamatory) Mucinex (OTC decongestant. Interesting because it says chest congestion but it works great for sinuses, who knew!) Antibiotics (a zillion mgs) Zytrec D, and my neti pot 3x a day.
IT IS INSANE. By Thursday morning I felt better, and by Friday night it was like I never had a sinus infection.
I have to get a CT scan in 2 weeks once the swelling goes down and I have to get a full allergy work up at an allergist since I haven’t in 15-20 years then I have to go back and review my situation with her. I also have to purchase $400 air purifiers and keep them running 24 hours a day. This is all to avoid surgery, which she said is a possible outcome depending on “what it looks like in there” Fun times!
2 comments October 15th, 2011
